Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center

Top choice in Northern Virginia


The National Air and Space Museum in the Mall is so awesome they made an attic for it: the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. It’s three times the size of the DC museum and sprawls through massive hangars near Washington Dulles International Airport. Highlights include the SR-71 Blackbird (the fastest jet in the world), space shuttle Discovery (fresh from the clouds after its 2011 retirement) and the Enola Gay (the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima).

Visitors can hang out in the observation tower and watch the planes take off and land at Dulles, go on a simulator (piloting a jet, taking a space walk), or catch shows at the on-site Airbus IMAX Theater. Free 90-minute tours through the collection are offered at 10:30am and 1pm daily.

If you're driving, take I-66 West to VA 267 West, then VA 28 South, then follow the signs. Parking is $15 (free after 4pm).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Northern Virginia attractions

1. Foamhenge

3.06 MILES

This marvelous, full-scale replica of Stonehenge by artist Mark Cline is made entirely of Styrofoam and moved to Cox Farms in 2017. It is open during Cox…

2. Manassas National Battlefield Park

7.78 MILES

The site of two major Confederate victories early in the Civil War, Manassas National Battlefield Park today is a curving green hillscape, sectioned into…

3. Chrysalis Vineyards

12.08 MILES

A swish operation located on a hilltop 5 miles east of Middleburg, Chrysalis proudly uses the native Norton grape (which dates back to 1820), and produces…

4. Oatlands Historic House & Gardens

12.93 MILES

Established in 1803 by a great-grandson of Robert ‘King’ Carter, a wealthy pre-Revolutionary planter, this plantation has as its focal point a lovingly…

5. Blockhouse Point Conservation Park

13.04 MILES

Montgomery County has carved this pretty park out of a corner of the Potomac River valley. From Blockhouse Point, you'll see views of the Potomac Valley…

6. Glenstone Museum

14.62 MILES

It's all about the experience at this striking museum where art, architecture and landscape merge, and comfortable contemplation is encouraged. The…

7. National Sporting Museum

16.32 MILES

Middleburg is foxhunting territory (Middleburg's Hunt meets regularly), so it's not surprising that its main museum takes as its focus equine sports…

8. Morven Park

16.59 MILES

Morven Park is a 1000-acre property that was once the home of Virginia governor Westmoreland Davis. The Greek Revival mansion (tours hourly, last tour at…